Official

A top official with PG&E Generating last week confirmed whatsome, such as FERC, have suspected already – that the increase innatural gas demand for power generation will not be as great as hasbeen anticipated for the immediate future.

A top official with PG&E Generating this week confirmed whatsome, such as FERC, have suspected already-that the increase innatural gas demand for power generation will not be as great as hasbeen anticipated for the immediate future.

In a stunning move, a D.C. federal court judge yesterdayremanded Nicholas J. Bush, former president of the Natural GasSupply Association (NGSA), to a halfway house pending sentencing ontwo felony charges for embezzling $2.8 million from the producergroup. Bush had pleaded guilty.

Nicholas J. Bush, former president of the Natural Gas SupplyAssociation (NGSA), has been charged with one count of criminalmail fraud and one count of tax evasion in connection for his rolein allegedly embezzling more than $2.8 million through fakeconsulting contracts from the producer trade group.

Nicholas J. Bush, former president of the Natural Gas SupplyAssociation (NGSA), has been charged with one count of criminalmail fraud and one count of tax evasion in connection with his rolein the embezzlement of more than $2.8 million from the producertrade group.

In a terse letter to FERC recently, Cuba Wadlington Jr.,Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line’s senior vice president and generalmanager, became the first pipeline representative to formallycriticize the Commission’s recent departure from its long-standingpolicy of issuing preliminary determinations on pipeline expansionapplications.

In a terse letter to FERC last week, Cuba Wadlington Jr.,Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line’s senior vice president and generalmanager, became the first pipeline representative to formallycriticize the Commission’s recent departure from its long-standingpolicy of issuing preliminary determinations on pipeline expansionapplications. Wadlington said Transco officials are disappointedabout the decision, which affects their MarketLink project, theproposed Independence Pipeline – in which Transco is a partner -the upstream ANR-sponsored SupplyLink project and the competingMillennium Pipeline project.

A top-ranking FERC official last week dismissed suggestions thatthe Commission was dragging its feet on key pipeline projects thatwould ship natural gas to the Northeast – namely the proposedMillennium, SupplyLink, MarketLink and Independence lines. “…[W]elove new pipelines,” said Richard O’Neill, director of the Officeof Economic Policy, “but we don’t want these new pipelines to turninto stranded costs.” Also, he cited environmental concerns.

Taking its initial plunge into the Canadian Midstream market,Duke Energy announced last week its subsidiary, Duke EnergyServices Canada Ltd., acquired gas gathering and processing assetsfrom Calgary-based Cometra Energy. Financial terms were notdisclosed.